


Fire and Storm

by Redlightsdistrict



Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Dark, Dominance, Dysfunctional Relationships, F/M, OOC, Rough Sex, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:15:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28723461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redlightsdistrict/pseuds/Redlightsdistrict
Summary: A collection of oneshots that follows Mason and Katherine as they fight their demons... and each other.
Relationships: Female Detective/Mason (The Wayhaven Chronicles)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 24





	1. The land of gods and monsters.

**Author's Note:**

> E-rated for chapters starting ch2
> 
> Additional tags might be added as the story progresses. Storyline sort of follows canon but I took some liberties so let’s say it’s AU-ish. Chapters are connected pretty vaguely and could be read as standalones.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy it ♥️
> 
> A huge thank you to Keisi for her eagle eyes and all the help, support and critique ♥️
> 
> 🌹Discord: Kat/redlightsdistrict#0642  
> 🌹Reddit: redlightsdistrict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mason feels something he’s not supposed to, and the detective gets a new job.

“Really?” the detective raised an eyebrow staring up at Mason who sat on a chair next to her bed, one leg thrown over the other. “That’s where you’re going right now? While I’m in a hospital bed?”

“It’s a bed,” the vampire shrugged, the strand of his hair falling over his face. “Might as well make use of it.”

Mason sent her one of his signature smirks, and she rolled her eyes crossing arms over her chest. Her pulse never quickened, her cheeks were as pale as usual, her body language relaxed but uninviting. The vampire held back a sigh of frustration: ever since they’ve met, he couldn’t crack her down. He kept pushing, his remarks becoming less and less appropriate, to the point that even Felix stopped finding it amusing.

He kept cornering her in every empty room and sending hot, univocal glances – but all he usually got were sharp, one-word responses when she wasn’t in the mood. Although, sometimes, she’d flirt right back. She’d say things that made Adam growl in exasperation and made Nate splutter and ask them if they must do it before everyone else.

And sometimes, she would just walk past Mason and catch the stare of his grey eyes through the smoke of his cigarette while her hand brushed casually against his leg.

In annoyance at the lack of reaction to his last statement, the vampire pulled a pack of cigarettes out of the pocket and patted himself searching for the lighter. The detective’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, glimpses of fire playing in them.

“I thought you’re supposed to smoke _after_? Not _before_ ,” her voice was just as casual as before, but somehow, this nonchalant tone held more power than if she matched his playful flirtation.

Mason’s gaze flicked to meet her, searching for something that wasn’t even there. Annoyed, he threw the cigarette flying across the room until it reached a small trash can in the corner. The young woman watched its trip and then turned to the vampire, a bit of amusement flickering in her eyes.

“You should’ve been the one to teach Felix how to make paper planes,” she chuckled to herself and winced ever so slightly as the stitches on her neck got disturbed.

“I thought they’d have drugged you with painkillers,” Mason frowned, watching the detective as she adjusted her neck position.

“And that’s the only reason I haven’t tried to strangle you with one of these pillows,” she smirked at him, catching the man off-guard with an almost friendly joke.

This was considered friendly comparing to all her other remarks addressed to him. Even Adam who she could barely spend two minutes without arguing with received warmer treatment than the grey-eyed man. This didn’t add up any cheerfulness to the already dark and sarcastic character of Agent Mason.

_Agent Mason,_ he snorted to himself. _What a joke._

The detective caught a glimpse of something new in his stormy-grey eyes and tilted her head like a greyhound that smelled the trace of prey. She somehow always managed to catch the tiniest changes in Mason’s mood, playing on him as if he was a damn saxophone, finding every single one of his buttons and pushing them hard enough to always keep him alert – but not hard enough to make him explode Adam style and smash half of her office.

Mason threw his head back, tilting his chin up, ready for her to say something that will make him want to climb up the wall.

She took a tiny breath, ready to speak when the door flew open letting in the rest of Unit Bravo.

“Oh,” Felix drawled out, somewhat disappointed. “They’re just talking.”

Nate sent Mason a glance that meant ‘behave’, and the other vampire circled his finger above his head drawing a halo. The detective moved slightly to let Felix climb the bed and sit next to her, and Mason saw another glimpse of pain in her deep-green eyes. He mindlessly wondered why she didn’t ask for more drugs and switched his attention to their commanding agent who stood next to the door, his arms crossed over his broad chest.

Nate propped himself against the wall next to the bed, and all four vampires turned their gaze to the detective.

She chuckled, “I saw a movie that started just like this.”

A moment of silence and Felix’s laughter filled the room. The youngest vampire bent over, reaching to give her a high-five followed by Adam’s disapproving stare and Nate’s sigh. Mason said nothing, and his silence was so loud Felix turned to glance at him.

“Really?” he wondered. “Nothing at all?”

The grey-eyed man only shrugged and drew a cigarette out of the pack, this time finding the lighter and taking a draw before anyone else could notice the strange glimmer in his eyes.

“We’re in the infirmary,” Nate reminded. “The last thing the detective needs after everything that had happened is passive smoking.”

She only shrugged, “I don’t care,” and added after a moment of thought, “I’m not made of porcelain.”

Mason’s eyes darted to study her face through the haze of smoke, and he could swear he saw there something he’d never seen before - fear. It wasn’t there when she stumbled into him after escaping Murphy, barely breathing from tiredness. There was no fear in the scent of her body when the crazy scientist dashed towards her and snapped his teeth on her neck. There was no fear in the green eyes that stared back at him when she lost consciousness in his arms and her fingers unclenched from his t-shirt that she was holding onto as if it was a safety float and she was drowning.

She feared that they saw this weak, fragile human in her, nothing more. He didn’t need any kind of supernatural power to read that in the way she pushed herself up on the bed ignoring the obvious discomfort and pain.

It was stupid, and Mason rolled his eyes at her stubbornness.

“Murphy escaped,” Adam blurted out, finally deciding to stop pretending that he was a fig tree.

The detective nodded and pulled the long curls of her auburn hair up, fixing them in place as she wrapped a loose strand around the base of the ponytail.

“Thing One already informed me,” she didn’t even look at Mason as she spoke, evoking a croaking cough out of Felix.

There was darkness inside of her that kept Mason from snapping back. The further she went with her comments, the less resistance she met – and the less resistance she showed when the vampire finally seemed to be fed up and poured all the frustration onto her during their patrols when there were just the two of them and empty, dark streets.

She let him pin her to a tree, staring into her eyes madly, and her heart never once skipped a beat, as if she knew that no power in the world would’ve made him cross the line and hurt her. And he hated it. Hated that despite every insult, every mocking glance, every jab he couldn’t bring himself to back off and stop following her wherever she went.

He followed her like a fucking dog, trailing her shoes, following the path she took even if it meant watching her talk to her ex who looked like he just went out of a photoshoot and who couldn’t seem to be able to keep his damn hands off the detective. Even if it meant to swallow her comments about his pheromones reminding her of primates. Even if it meant to be so close to her it became almost painful at times, the way she filled the entire space around him, and when she was around, he could sense only her.

“Detective,” Nate said, his brows pinched together. “What you did at that warehouse…”

“I do have a name,” the detective’s voice was both ironic and serious. “If you dislike it so much, come up with a nickname, instead of always making me feel like I’m at the precinct twenty-four seven.”

Felix’s eyes lit up immediately.

“I’ve been spending some time on the internet…”

“This can’t be good,” Nate sighed exchanging glances with Adam.

Mason almost snorted when the young woman snapped her eyes at the vampire in panic.

“I take it back, ‘Detective’ is perfectly fine!”

“And I wonder which part of the internet you were researching,” Mason grinned and stubbed the cigarette out. “Although, the idea isn’t too bad… is it, _kitten_?”

The look on her face was priceless, and the vampire took in every tiny bit of annoyance and revulsion she felt towards him at that moment. Her eyes darted to meet his stare, and her upper lip twitched in disgust as the man continued, the dark pleasure of bringing up her emotions spreading through him.

“Detective kitten, if you wish.”

Felix flopped over the detective’s legs, laughing so hard the bed was shaking under the impact while she was drilling the other vampire with the stare of her blazing eyes. He knew what exactly threw her off the rail. She couldn’t stand being weak, _seeming_ weak. Couldn’t stand when Adam told her to stay behind them when they encountered something unusual. She couldn’t stand the Mayor’s insinuations that she might’ve been not enough to lead the Wayhaven police, that she wasn’t _strong_ enough to make it.

The nickname was just a little stab in the open wound of her insecurities, and he enjoyed watching her squirm.

Through clenched teeth, she responded, her eyes glimmering darkly in the artificial light of the room, “Whatever floats your boat, _princess_.”

Adam, who fell silent as the conversation took a dangerous turn, stepped towards the bed, and put a hand on Mason’s shoulder preventing the other vampire from responding. The dark-haired man growled under his breath but obeyed the silent request.

“Murphy escaped which means he can come back for you, Detective,” Adam’s voice warmed up ever so slightly. “You should be able to protect yourself this time.”

“That’s why you should start your training,” Nate added from his spot next to the wall. “Which brings us to the big news.”

Nate let his lips curl upward.

“You’ll hear everything from Agent Reed,” the detective barely held back from rolling her eyes. “She had to leave for a meeting but…”

“They want you to become one of us!” Felix was unable to keep the level of suspense, his face lighting up with a smile.

“A vampire?” and for the first time, Mason saw her _surprised_ , and this genuine reaction tore off the usual mask off her face making the detective look even younger.

With her hair up and bare face, with her eyes widened and lips slightly parted, she suddenly looked so fragile, it almost knocked the air out of the vampire. He kept forgetting she was just a human, even when Murphy attacked the two of them, she fought with everything she had as if she couldn’t feel pain – but now, it finally hit him.

She wasn’t invincible, and she could’ve died in that warehouse.

He didn’t have time to get scared back then - but now, the realization crashed all over him, heavy as a tsunami, sending cold chills up his spine. She was just a human whose only fear was her own weakness, a human who constantly put herself in danger to protect others. A human that seemed as cold as ice but now was staring blankly at his teammates, caught off-guard to the point she forgot to keep her bullet-proof mask on.

“No, K,” Felix cried in laughter, and even Adam’s lips twitched slightly upwards. “They want you to join Unit Bravo.”

*** 

Mason was the only one left in the room after Agent Reed personally announced the news and left, taking the rest of Unit Bravo with her. The detective’s eyes followed her mother’s figure indifferently, her lips curling slightly upwards when Felix blew her a kiss before shutting the door.

The redhead turned her gaze to the grey-eyed man who never moved from the chair next to her bed.

“You’re still here,” she stated tiredly. “Why?”

That was a damn good question. What the hell was he doing sitting next to her hospital bed like a loyal dog waiting for its master to get better?

He shrugged and crossed his arms.

“I thought you were supposed to fall asleep,” he noted a few moments later.

“Yeah, well,” she chuckled bitterly. “Sleep seems to be avoiding me since recently.”

The man arched an eyebrow, “Is that so?”

The detective sighed quietly and rolled onto her side, resting her cheek against the palm of her hand – such a simple gesture, but it made Mason’s back straighten unnaturally as if it scared him. Willing his muscles to relax, he waited for her to speak.

“I just found out that we all live in the land of gods and monsters. Do you think it’s something that happens to humans on a daily?”

Now, he was surprised. The vampire looked down at the human, and her body seemed to shrink in size. This was the first time she’s ever acknowledged that she wasn’t made of steel, the only time he saw her this open – even though it was the result of her medicine.

And it did something to him.

Instead of yet another comment that would’ve earned him Adam’s scolding, he nodded, moving closer to lean his elbows against the bed.

“You seem to be doing fine.”

“Do I have any other choice?” Mason could feel the bitter taste of her smile on his tongue. “Either that or what, exactly? Having the Agency do their little trick and wipe off my memories?”

She was too tired to notice how rigid the vampire’s body went at those words, her eyes falling shut and breathing slowing down. Mason stared down at the redhead, frowning as he thought for a moment before pulling the blanket up to cover her body, so fragile and defenseless now… The man stumbled backward, staring at his own hands in confusion.

_What the hell was he doing?_


	2. Sounds of silence.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The detective wakes up from yet another nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> E-rating starts here.  
> All the hashtags are there for a reason.

She woke up from a nightmare on the tossed sheets damp with her own sweat, wrapped into her silk nightdress, panting and gasping, trying to untangle her legs from layers of soft fabric.

It’s been almost a week since the detective became an official member of Unit Bravo. Almost a week of her hanging out with them almost every hour of every day, listening to Nate’s lectures on every supernatural she might ever encounter, sparring with Adam, and redecorating the warehouse that the Agency assigned as the new home for the team with Felix. She wasn't allowed to go back to her apartment yet, and so the young woman had no choice but to get used to this strange domestic life with four vampires. 

And it's been a week since Murphy escaped and left an ugly scar in the crook of her neck and nightly terrors that she woke up from with her heart ready to explode. Every morning she woke up, went to the bathroom, and stared at her reflection, tracing her long nervous fingers along the bright-pink tracks on her neck. Murphy's goodbye gift. The Agency's healers couldn't heal them completely, only promised that soon, the scars will lighten and won't be so visible anymore. But frankly, she didn't care. Even if they were gone completely, they were imprinted in her memory, nothing could ever change that.

She finally managed to free herself from the sheets and sat up, her legs hanging off the bed. Her mouth was parched, lips so dry she had to lick them twice feeling the bad taste of the nightmare still linger on her tongue. Quietly, she got up, grabbed her cardigan, and walked towards the bathroom, trying not to stumble into furniture in almost complete darkness. Her room at the warehouse looked like a carbon copy of her bedroom in the apartment in town, just as empty and cold, just as _uninhabited._

Without turning the lights on, she splashed some cold water in her face and stared blindly in the mirror. She couldn’t make out her own features, and somehow, it was comforting, not knowing for sure if it was really her in the reflection. She always loved the night time when shadows and darkness ruled the world when the only light was that of a distant listless moon. In the dark, she could become anything she wanted. Just for a few hours, there was a chance for her not to be Katherine Reed, Wayhaven’s detective, somebody’s friend, or neighbor. She could be anyone, the only problem was that she had no idea who she _wanted_ to be.

Feeling the way with her palms, she moved towards the kitchen, listening to the sounds of the sleepy warehouse. The rest of Unit Braco was, presumably, fast asleep, no matter what the vampires kept telling her about not needing as much rest as humans, she was always up before them. It was so quiet, she could hear the rustle of her clothes and the soft whisper of wind outside the windows. 

Now, _she was officially one of them._

She didn’t want this, just like she didn’t want to be a detective, just like she never wanted to join the police or live in this godforsaken town. Just like she never wanted anything of what her life had become. The young woman ran her fingers through the messy curls of her auburn hair, brushing away her thoughts. What difference did it make to think about any of that? She had no control over her life, not now, not ever – and she learned to deal with it. She learned to find it in other places, and it was enough. It should’ve been enough.

Squinting in the bright light inside the fridge, she grabbed a bottle of water and looked out of the window. It was still pitch-black dark outside, and she grabbed a blanket from the couch in the living room and headed outside. Throwing the blanket over her shoulder, she grabbed onto the ladder that was leaning against one of the walls and climbed onto the rooftop, her body erupting into goosebumps under the soft gusts of chilly wind. 

She stopped immediately as her eyes fell onto Mason who sat on the other side of the roof, his legs swinging slightly in the air. He watched the woman as she staggered back a little, unsure what to do. Everything seemed a little surreal. All those stars hanging low in the sky, the smell of petrichor in the air, and peaceful quietness only disturbed with rare bird screams and the soft whisper of leaves. In the darkness of the night, it didn't matter how much she detested the dark-haired vampire. 

Mason watched the detective as she finally made the decision and carefully moved to sit a few feet from him, covering herself with a blanket. He couldn't tell what time of year it was anymore, it seemed that this crooked little town got stuck in the constant autumn, with endless drizzles and bone-chilling wind that sometimes picked up and made his entire body shiver. He didn't do well in cold, and not even once she missed an opportunity to send a sharp jab his way. But not now. Now, she barely acknowledged his presence at all, her eyes glued to the sky above them.

They sat in silence, and her mind started to wander. Was there another time when she and this vampire just sat in silence and neither of them was trying to jab at the other? Was there another time when just looking at him didn’t make her want to say something that would make him climb up the wall?

Since the first time she saw him, she couldn’t control that dark, sticky feeling that she got whenever he was around. His innuendos and comments made her fly off the rail, turned her blood into liquid metal, heavy and hot, it was burning her down from within. Everything about him made her want to wipe that sarcastic smirk off his face, to shut him up, to put him back into his place, and there was no explanation why he brought this side of her to life.

There was no explanation why she felt this heavy pleasure when her words hit the target, and his face twitched in barely contained fury when he got up in her face, his fangs bared. There was something in the way he made her back press against the wall involuntarily, something in the way she had to force her breath not to hitch when he was so close. Something that impelled her to keep pushing his buttons waiting for him to snap completely. Waiting for him to cross the invisible line between being angry and enraged, between balling his hands into fists and actually digging them into her body.

He never did. The line was so thin, almost non-existent when his body cornered her and stopped just a breath away from her own - but it was there, like an invisible wall that he would never break. And that knowledge made her want to push him even harder, just to see his helplessness... and maybe, his rage. 

But now, in the hypnotic tranquility of antelucan hour, all those dark desires were sleeping deep inside her chest.

Silence between them had sound. Gentle rustle of the leaves. Distant chirping of an early bird. Whisper of the wind. Soft sough of the water running down the pipe.

Neither of them spoke for so long it seemed they’d forgotten about the presence of each other. Her eyes wandered, catching the outlines of Mason’s body. He just kept staring at the skyline motionlessly, and it was the first time she saw him so relaxed. And suddenly, she realized that her own body was just as peaceful. The realization dawned on her like an avalanche: this was the first time since Murphy's escape that she managed to ease up the tension boiling in her body, and it was the discovery she didn't want to dwell on.

“No cigarette?” her voice snapped the man out of his thoughts, and he slowly turned to face her.

“No.”

He said the word simply, no emotion in his velvety voice, and this nonchalant tone made the monster in her chest raise its head - she didn't like his emotionlessness. The redhead had to bite down on her lip not to let a mocking remark slip off her tongue to keep the peacefulness around them, if only for a few more short moments.

Sensing the tension that stiffened her body when she kept quiet, the vampire asked, “Another nightmare?”

The detective snapped her eyes up at him: she never said anything about watching horror movies once her eyes fell shut every night since Murphy’s escape. She never told anyone she had nightmares, not even Felix who she's been spending most of her free time with, who she'd learned if not trust but at least try to.

“Vampire senses,” Mason reminded, studying her face for a moment.

“Not creepy at all,” she scowled and reached for the pack of cigarettes that lied halfway between them untouched.

Her hand almost took hold of it when she suddenly lost her balance and her feet slipped heavily off the roof. She was too shocked to grasp onto something before her body was free-falling, and her only reaction was a surprised gasp when she found herself midway to the ground.

“Damn you!”

She barely had any time to get scared, everything happened too fast. Mason’s voice was still echoing in her ears when she landed into his arms, pressed tightly to his chest. His stormy-grey eyes stared down at her, and she couldn’t bring herself to look away, almost hypnotized with the wolfish stare. 

It was still dark and chilly outside, but she suddenly felt like her body went ablaze. Not thinking, she moved her hand, her fingers gliding up his chest and over the sensitive skin of his neck that erupted into goosebumps under her touch. His eyes sparkled when she pulled on his hair slightly making his head tilt forward, and they froze a breath away from each other, their gazes still glued to each other.

He was still holding her in his arms as if she was weightless. His hold of her body almost gentle, as if he thought that one uncareful movement would be enough to break her, and it flared up a fire inside of her. Just the way his usually arrogant smirk changed into a look of concern and his body that always emanated condescension and annoyance was now so caring made something in her brain switch. 

With a forceful movement, she broke free from his grasp landing hard on her feet, her hands never letting go of his hair. She pulled the vampire closer, crashing their lips together in a kiss that made him gasp in surprise. He never expected to find so much force in her slim, delicate body, and it caught him off-guard, even more than the kiss. Her fingers clenched on his neck, not letting him pull away for even a moment, and Katherine pulled the man back inside hitting her thigh painfully on the corner of the hallway stand. Hissing in pain, she clung onto the vampire’s shoulders, and he picked her up, moving in the darkness effortlessly, not letting his brain turn back on and stop him.

The world squeezed to the size of her body.

Breathing heavily, Mason pushed the door to his room open and used his foot to shut it close once they got inside. His hands were still clenched on her back, and the young woman snaked her own into the long strands of his hair, pulling on it roughly. Being wrapped in his arms made her feel small and fragile, and she needed something that would make her feel back in control, something to erase the picture of herself flying off the roof into the vampire’s arms out of her memories.

She didn’t need a savior. She never had one, even when she needed one badly, and she learned to be her own damn hero. 

Her eyes finally adjusted to the dim, cold light of the moon that turned the shadows on the walls of Mason's room into whimsical patterns and made her skin glow, half-translucent. She’s never been in his room before but even in the haste of the moment, she noticed heavy leather furniture and a fireplace, now empty. For a fleeting moment, all her thoughts focused on how similar this room was to her own - dark and heavy and empty – and then, she moved her hands from his hair and pressed her palms against the vampire’s firm chest, pushing him into the wall behind.

His shoulder hit the edge of a bookcase, and a few volumes fell onto the floor landing on the thick carpet with a muffled thump. Mason’s eyes snapped at the detective, his gaze heavy with lust, just to notice her own sparkle at him in return a moment before she pressed herself against his chest, her hands returning to the back of his neck to make him bend down.

Without her heels, she was much shorter, her lips barely reached his chin, and the vampire tipped forward, tilting his head to meet her mouth in a deep, fervent kiss that tasted like mint and faint reminiscences of sweetness. Panting, he moved his mouth down her neck, and she threw her head back for a second giving him more access to the soft, velvety skin. His hot, heavy breath burned on the sensitive skin in the hollow of her throat, and she swallowed hard before moving her hands to his stomach and under his shirt, grasping on the hem to pull it off. 

Mason heard movements in one of the bedrooms and stopped for a second, listening to the sounds of the night-time house.

“What is it?” the detective’s voice was breathy and hoarse, and it sent goosebumps all over Mason’s body, making his cock twitch in his pants at the thought that _he_ was the reason she was so wound up.

“Someone’s awake,” it was so much of her in the space around him, that the vampire couldn’t even tell who of his friends was moving through the corridor.

“And?” her hands slid down his bare chest, nails scraping on the skin, ran over the taut muscles of his stomach, and found the buckle of his belt. “Let them listen.”

Her eyes stared into his own, wild and dark, while her fingers worked to unzip his pants, her touches abrupt and so hot, he wondered if she had a fever.

“They can come here,” he choked on his words when her palm slipped into his pants and her fingers wrapped around him.

“Let them watch then,” she whispered as she pushed herself up on the tips of her toes capturing his mouth ravenously, biting on his bottom lip painfully.

A low groan reverberated in the back of his throat as his palms traveled down her body and he hoisted her up, her legs wrapping around him as she kept moving her hand inside his pants, stroking him roughly.

Mason carried her to his bed and threw his prey onto the mattress, ogling her body shamelessly, his eyes filled with a voracious hankering. Her mouth stretched in a cruel grin, the one she usually gave him just a second before another portion of sarcasm escaped her full, perfect lips. She watched the man for a moment as he jerked the belt out of his pants in irritation and threw it next to the bed sending his pants after it.

“So desperate,” the purring notes of her voice mixed with merciless mockery, almost disdain, made his skin crawl with goosebumps and his insides twist into tiny knots.

She studied his reaction as the man hovered above her, and her upper lip twitched in an allusion of a grin when he grabbed her hands and pinned them down above her head, his teeth baring at her as the vampire leaned closer. He moved his free hand down her body and slipped it under the silk fabric of her nightie, his fingers brushing her sleek folds ungently.

Her back arched into the touch of his hand, and he pushed two fingers inside her unceremoniously.

“Who’s the desperate one here?” he breathed out next to her ear, nipping in the skin of her neck. “You’re so wet, you’re soaked.”

He bit down harder, and a loud moan escaped her mouth as his hand moved faster turning her body into a writhing mess under him. There was no way the others didn’t hear her, and she wouldn’t care at all if not for the glimmer in the vampire’s eyes. He knew he made her so desperate, and he enjoyed it. Without a warning, she wrapped her legs around Mason’s hips tightly and pushed herself up in a swift jerk. Her hands slipped out of his grip and pressed into the man’s chest as she pushed him backward, using the weight of her body to pin him down. Now, she was hovering over him, and his dark-grey eyes stared at the young woman with a mix of surprise and thrill as she pressed her chest harder against his own.

He could feel the heavy beat of her heart as if it was beating inside his own ribcage. She didn’t give him any time. One of her hands moved down his body, nails scraping painfully against the skin making the muscles of his stomach twitch under her touch. Unlike him, she was still wearing clothes, and it brought some of the control back to her as if two layers of fabric were some kind of ammunition that was able to protect her against his devouring gaze and the reaction of her own body to the man spread on the bed under her.

She moved along his body, and his hips bucked up when she brushed herself against his cock drawing a growl out of the vampire. His hands clenched on her hips, fingers digging deep into the soft skin, and her eyes shone with grim satisfaction at the way his face contorted in barely contained need.

She watched him closely, her attention focused on the way his skin felt against her own, and his ragged breath, and the contrast that her pale fingers made with his tanned stomach. Outside, the skies were slowly turning from ink-black to deep blue, the final minutes of the night were running out, and she sunk herself down onto him, scared to find herself in his arms in the bright light of day.

His entire body arched towards her, and she couldn’t hold back a moan that echoed Mason’s, their voices entwining just like their bodies when he grabbed a fistful of her messy curls and pulled the detective closer.

“Move,” the word came out as half-plea half-order, and she grabbed his chin imperiously between her fingers.

“That’s not how you ask,” her breath ghosted on his dry lips as she leaned closer, the sides of her thin cashmere cardigan brushing against the heated skin of his chest.

Their faces were so close the vampire could see tiny orange veins running across the irises of her green eyes that gave him a lupine stare. The tone of her voice, calm and dictating, made the hair on the back of his head stand and it sent a shiver up his spine. His body reacted to her in the ways it never reacted to anyone before, almost submitting to the darkness inside of the woman that he could sense with his skin, smell in the thick air around them, and taste on the tip of her tongue that she ran over his bottom lip. Something about her had this power over him that made him throw himself on the wall of her indifference time after time, just because that one time he caught the look in her eyes, the one that matched his own. The one that she wasn’t able to control that night at the bar when the crowd squeezed them together, and their bodies pressed into one another, and she had to grasp on his shoulder not to fall down.

For a moment, her eyes filled up with the heavy smoke of lurid desire, and her hand slid up to press against the back of his neck the same second his own clutched on her side, fingers digging deep into her hot skin through the thin silk fabric of her blouse.

“No need to fall to my feet… yet,” he smirked baring the tips of his fangs.

Her nails scraped the skin just behind his ear, and a tiny shiver coursed through the man when she caught her full bottom lip between the pearls of her teeth, and then her tongue ran over the red swollen flesh.

“Let me know when it is, then,” she bounced off, moving across the bar to where the rest of Unit Bravo was. 

And now, she watched him expectantly, the stillness of her body on top of him driving the man mad as he fought through the haze of desire and his thoughts to focus his gaze on her. She knew she was pushing him, maybe _too_ hard. His fingers were so deep in her hips, she could feel the bruises forming on the pale, gentle skin. Maybe, this was the line he couldn’t cross – at least, not yet. Maybe, she should’ve just settled for whatever he wanted this night to be. Maybe, she should’ve accepted that there was nothing in her life that she could control a long time ago and should’ve stopped fighting it so much.

Maybe, letting go of this constant struggle was what she needed?

He was so deep inside of her it was painful to keep still, even for those few seconds it took the vampire to finally snake one hand up her spine and pull on her hair to tilt her head slightly up. Her lips parted in a gasp of pain mixed with pleasure when his hips bucked up forcefully and his mouth whispered, _please._

The first glimmer of sunlight hit the horizon when her moan bounced off the walls, echoing through the house and waking up even those who were asleep before. Shaking Mason’s hand off, she pressed her open palms against his chest that was rising and falling heavily as she finally began to move sharply. She was so hot she could barely breathe, tiny beads of sweat running down her temples and down her neck and between her breasts. In one deft movement, she ripped the cardigan off her body and sent it flying across the room, knocking off something from one of the shelves. It fell on the floor with the sound of breaking glass, but neither of them noticed, consumed with the fire building between their bodies.

Her insides turned into hot lava, she was on the edge but couldn’t step over it, and it felt like she was just about to combust and explode into flames. The tension inside of her reached the point when she couldn’t even see Mason’s face, couldn’t see her own hands moving along his body blindly. She needed more, of everything - more of his raspy feral groans, more of his jerking body that moved against her own hastily, more of that desperation in his blazing eyes. She wanted more of him, maybe, all of him, and could never get it, not from someone who fucked more people than the population of Wayhaven.

A wave of anger rushed through her body, and her hand grasped on the vampire’s hair painfully as she leaned closer, sinking her teeth into the crook of his neck. He jolted under her, and she bit harder, the taste of his sweat blending with the taste of his blood on her tongue. He choked on air, and the wild animal inside of her purred with relish as she knew, no one ever marked him like that. If only for a minute that it would take his body to heal, she owned him.

Her body shuddered, arching, and twisting, and crying as she came all over him, her walls clenching around him so hard, it became almost painful to move, for both of them. Before she could’ve noticed, he flipped them around and pushed her legs wide open pressing her knees into the mattress. He thrust into her, so deep she screamed, still sensitive and swollen, still so high she was barely able to feel anything but the waves of raw pleasure spreading through her.

“Touch yourself,” this time, it was an order, and she dropped her hand between their bodies.

She focused her wide eyes on his face as he watched her trembling fingers circle her clit for a few moments before his gaze returned to meet her as he pushed himself so deep, the room before her eyes exploded into thousands of lighting bolts, blinding her, arching her body above the bed. This time, she couldn’t even hear the sound of her voice when she screamed, her ears were so full as if filled with cotton wool.

He followed her the same moment, thrusting into her spasming body a few more times, unable to control himself. His healed skin burned where her teeth were just minutes ago. She was pulsing and clenching around him, the cries of her relief so loud they deafened the vampire, took away his hearing just like her scent took away his smelling, just like she managed to fill the entire space around him, erasing everything else every fucking time she was around.

And he hated it.

He flopped down on top of the detective, his weight on top of her cutting off the air. Breathless, she pushed him off herself and sat up brushing damp, messy curls out of her face. Her legs were shaking but she managed to get up as if nothing had happened and grabbed the end of the sheet to wipe his come off her inner thigh so casually as if she was wiping a tiny bit of sauce off her lips at a restaurant. She tilted her head slightly to her side as she stood before the window, and the first timid ray of sun fell across her shoulders, creating a halo around her head, playing in her hair as she watched the man for a second.

Slowly, she stepped closer to bed and bent down to run her forefinger over Mason’s neck wiping off a small spot of blood left on the healed skin, “I guess you’re not that useless, after all, _Agent_.”


	3. Where butterflies die.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of sex and denial.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re diving into dark unhealthy waters, check the tags.

It was dark and cold, and drizzling when the detective finally put down the case file and turned the computer screen off, immersing her office into almost complete darkness only disturbed by the streetlight outside the window.

Stretching with her whole body, she got up and grabbed her jacket and bag, and swapped her stiletto-heeled shoes for a pair of knee-high boots. It was a patrol night, and she huffed under her breath in discontent at the perspective of wasting four more hours of her life. Her heels clicked on the floor as she walked through the police station, footsteps echoing in the almost dead silence of the empty building.

“Night, Detective,” Douglas blurted out without ever raising his head from his phone, not expecting a response.

She silently moved past him and stepped out of the building, breathing in the air that smelled of rain and foliage and wet dirt, wondering if the town ever smelled of anything else but that. Maybe, they all got stuck in a weird Groundhog Day and just didn’t know?

The woman pulled her hair up in a messy bun and moved up the street. Her small sleepy town was already out for the count, no passersby, no drunk teenagers, no streetwalkers waiting for clients. As always after nine in the evening, Wayhaven was dead, and she had no idea why the Agency kept insisting on these patrols. More so, why they insisted on one of the vampires following her everywhere she went.

“You were supposed to wait,” a voice behind her back made the detective draw to a stop and turn slowly around.

“Why are you here?”

“Because Nate got stuck at the facility, and paper covers rock.”

Mason shivered under a gust of wind and pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

“Let’s just get over with this,” he mumbled through the cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

Wordlessly, they walked through the streets. The vampire dragged slightly behind, kicking the leaves just to annoy her with the constant rustle that made her turn around every time Mason’s shoe sent another pebble into one of the puddles.

“Do it once again and I’ll stuff your throat with those things,” she snapped turning around.

His eyes sparkled dangerously in the dim streetlights.

“Speaking of throats,” his voice dropped lower. “ _Yours_ could’ve been used much better now.”

They stood in the middle of the street staring at each other for so long that her eyes started watering. She refused to be the first to break and give in, despite how hot her skin went under his heavy gaze, and how much she needed relief. A smirk curled his lips upwards as the vampire watched her, not caving in either.

“What do you say, _Kitty-Kat_?” he sneered when she growled, regretting once again for making that stupid nickname joke. “Want me to stuff your mouth with something more interesting than rocks?”

In a trained movement, he caught her hand poised for his cheek and jerked the redhead towards himself, colliding their bodies.

“Careful, love,” he spat out the last word as if it was a piece of a rotten apple bringing her hands behind the woman’s back.

“Fuck off,” she hissed, unable to control her eyes that flickered down to his mouth as his tongue ran over his bottom lip.

A smirk stretched his mouth as the vampire leaned closer, and the scent of leather and smoke enveloped her, filling her head with the familiar dizziness. Twisting her wrists out of his grip, she shoved him away and took a step back, her lower back hitting the newspaper box.

Just as always, her brain shut down now that he was close, and her body acted against her mind that got tired of screaming at her to stop. But she couldn’t, and she hated herself for it and despised _him_ for not being able to stop either. 

She dropped her purse, propped herself up, and sat on the newspaper box. Her skirt rolled up baring her thighs, and she leaned back on her palms opening her legs wide under the vampire’s heavy gaze. If he said a word, if only he made another snarky comment, she would’ve just left. But he approached her in silence and dropped onto his knees in a small dirty puddle in front of her. His hands ran firmly up her legs and between her thighs, pushing her underwear aside as his mouth pressed into her heat.

His tongue slid between her folds and dipped into her, drowning in her wetness, and she moved one hand to grab a fistful of his long hair and press his face closer, holding him as her hips bucked rhythmically into the movements of his devouring mouth. Her nails scraped his scalp painfully when she pulled him up, and her lips crashed against his, sucking the breath out of him while his fingers struggled with the belt and zipper of his pants. He entered her roughly, filling and stretching her out, and she bit down on his lower lip hissing in a sharp pain while her hips jerked up, rushing him to move.

“Faster,” she breathed out gripping his shoulders, and his thrusts became almost frantic. With each movement, her shoulder blades hit the sharp corner. With each movement, she drifted farther beyond the line.

She shoved him off herself the moment his cock stopped throbbing inside of her, and the familiar darkness crept into her chest. Her mouth twitched in disgust when her eyes landed on the man who just indifferently straightened his clothes and lit up a cigarette, sucking the smoke deep into his lungs. He met her stare and raised an eyebrow, “Expecting praise?”

“From you?” she chuckled darkly. “That’d be an insult.”

***

Nate stopped the detective as she was ready to leave the warehouse. Since her neighbors managed to flood the entire floor a few days ago, she had to stay with the vampires as Rebecca decided it was safer than the hotel that was 'ran by a creep', as Felix reported. 

“Something I could do?” She was already late for work and already coiled up.

“I’ll go to the station with you today,” he ignored her grunt but his eyes stared into her deeply. “Something is going on. Your safety is our priority.”

She shrugged and flew the door open stepping into the morning chill. Her back hurt from when it slammed into the bathroom door handle just moments before, and she knew that she’ll see an ugly bruise on her skin when she takes her blouse off.

Bobby called asking to meet him Friday after work while she was trying to style her hair and brush her teeth at the same time, and the moment she hung up, she heard a sniggering voice coming from behind.

“Your pretty boy asked you out?”

Mason stood in the doorway, arms wrapped over his chest and face filled with contempt, and it was enough for her pulse to pick up and skin flush. Just looking at him made her chest fill with the heavy, sticky feeling that she had no name for.

“Jealous much?” She spat the toothpaste out and wrapped another strand of bright-auburn hair around the curling wand.

“Of what?” he shrugged as his stormy-grey gaze slid up and down her figure. “You’re not exactly that hard to get, _poppet."_

A wave of cold anger came crashing over her as the woman spun on her heels and threw the hot tool into the sink. She stepped closer, and the fire in her eyes made her seem taller. Swallowing hard through the sudden lump in her throat, she hissed into the vampire’s face, each word cutting into his skin like a knife cuts through butter.

“Get out of my way.”

His arm wrapped around her roughly as she moved past him, and Mason slammed the door shut pushing her against it, baring his teeth like a wild animal.

“You’re pathetic,” she whispered when he hoisted her up, and her legs wrapped around his naked torso.

Her hands dropped between them to push his pajama pants down, their rugged breaths intertwining. She knew everyone in the warehouse could hear them, but they were past the point when either of them cared.

“Only good to be my sex toy,” she whispered into his mouth as her fingers stroked his cock. “You’re not a man.”

A low growl escaped the vampire’s lips as she pushed herself onto him and clawed deeply into his back, making him move. Her back hit against the doorknob every time he thrust into her, and she stretched her lips in a sneer catching his wide stare.

She ran her tongue up his neck carnally and bit down on his throat, “ _You’re a thing_ -”

“Careful!” Nate’s voice snapped her out of the trance, and she barely managed to hit the brakes before her car ran into a deer that froze in the middle of the road.

She could still feel the taste of Mason’s skin on her tongue and hear her own words ring in her ears. Breathing deeply, she started the engine and swerved around the animal. Blood was pounding in her head as she only realized what might’ve happened, and the vampire put his hand comfortingly on her shoulder.

“I’m fine,” she shrugged off his palm and accelerated.

“Are you?”

She tightened her grip on the steering wheel, ignoring a whirlwind of thoughts and images running through her mind, all the same.

***

Circling Adam, she was trying to find just one tiny weak spot, just a second of his confusion – but there wasn’t any, and she kept hitting him until her hands hurt. Training with him was like fighting a brick wall devoid of feelings – emotionally and physically draining, but mostly, pointless.

“Commanding Agent,” Rebecca peeked into the room and beckoned the vampire over. “We need you.”

The detective waved her hand in annoyance, “What about me?”

“I’ll send someone else your way,” her mother barely looked at her, and the redhead scowled to herself and flopped on one of the mats, her hair splayed around her face.

Tiredly, she covered her eyes with the palms of her hands, watching red and blue flashes flicker under her closed lids letting her mind wander.

“Rough night?”

A familiar snickering voice broke through the haze of her thoughts, and she snapped her eyes open to meet Mason’s stare. Sitting up straight, she held back a moan of pain that struck through her entire body. His lips were thinned, and he wrapped his arms around his chest as he watched her get up and assume a fighting stance. Throwing her hair behind her back, the detective sent his way a challenging look.

“Show me what you’ve got.”

He moved so fast she barely noticed any movement. One moment he stood before her, and the next thing she knew, he was behind her back, his fingers wrapped tightly around her wrists. Her jaw set, and she sucked air through clenched teeth.

“Again.”

“Is that what you said to that journalist last night?”

She spun around furiously, almost crashing into the man. “Shut up.”

“Or was one time enough for you to realize you’ll never get off with him?” he spat the words out in a hiss and grabbed her chin. “That no one will get you off like I do?”

“Shut up!”

Her skin flushed red, and she stumbled backward, stunned. How could he know that she left Bobby’s apartment right after he finished, feeling nothing? She felt so fucking empty all the time… almost all the time. And she hated that it was _him_ that made it go away, that it were _his_ touches that left her dirty, and stained, and painfully alive.

Her fists crashed against the vampire’s chest catching him by surprise, her anger and desperate need to prove she was stronger than this madness drowning out the pain pulsing in her tired limbs.

“Oh, you wanna dance?” he caught her hands again and pulled her arms above her head bringing their faces closer. His lips brushed her burning cheek, and she jerked away from him almost spraining her wrists as she broke free from his grasp.

Wordlessly, they moved in circles, not taking eyes off each other. Blood was pumping in her head heavily, sweat running down her temples and the curve of her neck but she didn’t bother wiping it off. Mason’s hand flew towards her, and she barely managed to dodge, diving under the blow. He hesitated for just a split of a second, surprised that his fist never reached its target – but it was enough for her to hit the backs of his knees.

Her arm wrapped around his neck the moment he hit the floor. “I want nothing from you,” she spat out, her eyes burning with unshed tears that started choking her just like she was choking the vampire. “You disgust me.”

His hands flew up and grabbed her shoulders. He pulled, and she collapsed onto her back in front of him. Pressing her into the mat, he bent over, “Your mouth says that, but then it sucks me so hard and so eager.”

He moved to straddle her thighs and hover above her, and his fingers slid under her top, caressing her skin feverishly while she fought back the tears of defeat – she lost to herself, to her own sick mind. A feeling of running in circles was floating in her head. She was slipping away, going through the motions, ruining everything she touched. Even him. And she hated him for letting her do it.

Her back arched when he pulled the edge of her sports bra down exposing her breasts, and his teeth scraped her nipple at the edge of pain.

“Say that you want this,” his knee slipped between her legs, and she moaned quietly as his mouth moved to her neck, his hot breath sending thrills of electricity through her.

Why couldn’t she stop? The answer was there, she could reach it just like she reached the waistband of his joggers. It was before her eyes just like Mason’s wild stare when her hand started moving over his length. It was floating in her mind in a tsunami of sensations when his fingers slipped into her leggings and sunk in the hot wetness between her thighs.

“Say that you like it,” he grunted into her neck as her hand started moving faster. “That you like what I’m doing to you.”

This second of his weakness brought back the control she was losing, “I like using you. That’s all it is, all it ever be.”

Her thumb rubbed harder over his sensitive head as his fingers curled upwards inside of her.

“You’re nothing to me, really.”

***

Unable to fall asleep, she sat on her bed motionlessly, listening to the rumble of thunder. Her gaze was fixed on the window but the only thing she could see was the storm-colored eyes that kept haunting her even when _he_ wasn’t around.


	4. The line.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mason crosses the line.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> toxic toxic toxic

In all the years Adam knew Mason, the older vampire lost count of Mason’s flames. Those women used to _come and go_ (as Felix once said with a huge grin and a wiggle of his eyebrows), and nothing ever changed for the grey-eyed man. He had his fun and moved on, and Nate was the one left to clean up the mess after him. Simple and predictable.

That was until recently. Since Mason and the detective started _spending time_ together, Adam could barely recognize his friend. Even now, as they were all gathered at the round table listening to Agent Reed, Mason looked tired and distracted. Deep dark circles were under his eyes, his skin turned almost grey, dry and drained of color. His eyes dull and body so tense as if he swallowed a metal pole. Puffing on the third cigarette in a row, he sat in a chair next to the detective and looked like he was barely able to stand this closeness. And yet, Adam knew it, he was searching for it.

“Everything’s clear?” Agent Reed asked, and Nate and Felix nodded enthusiastically. “Great. Katherine, a word, please."

As the four vampires moved to leave the room, Adam caught up to Mason and put his large palm onto the younger man’s shoulder almost making him start. When the stormy-grey eyes finally met his stare, the blond vampire sigh.

“Can we talk?” he nodded towards the training room.

Shrugging, Mason followed him there, perching himself against the stack of mats once Adam closed the door behind them. “What is it?”

There was no question in his question, and once again Adam wondered how something like that could’ve happened to the man who once laughed at a _nun_ who slipped on ice and fell so hard that the ice cracked, and she ended up in a dirty puddle beneath it.

“How are you?” Adam stood before him, and it finally made Mason look up. “Really.”

“Terrific,” Mason’s upper lip twitched ever so slightly. “If that’s all I’ll…”

Adam stepped even closer, his arms wrapped over his broad chest, and Mason rolled his eyes, pulling an almost empty pack out of his pocket. He didn’t need cigarettes now, and they both knew it, just like they knew why he started smoking twice as much as before. And this knowledge was weighing down on Adam, making him want to do something, to protect his friend from whatever was happening to him.

In uncomfortable silence, the blond man looked around trying to find something – _anything_ – to rest his gaze on, but the room was empty besides the mats stacked on both sides. On one of them, he spotted a hair tie, the one that the detective probably left after their sparring. The scene flashed before his eyes. They were standing in front of each other, Katherine's breathing hard and ragged, her high ponytail all messed up, stray strands of hair falling across her reddened face.

“Bring it on, Commander,” he heard a light snigger in her voice, not more than usual, but her eyes stayed freezing cold.

And then, her head suddenly snapped up, as if she was a hound that sensed something in the air. She couldn’t hear Mason’s approaching footsteps that Adam heard a moment before, but her hand flew up to tear the hair tie off, and she threw it away. It landed on the stack of mats, and the detective shook her head letting the auburn waves cascade down her back and shoulders.

Taken aback by her actions, Adam missed the moment when she launched at him, and a second later his back was pressed against the wall, a smirk curling her lips upwards as the woman pressed her delicate arm against his neck.

“I win,” she pressed slightly harder before bouncing off.

“Agent Reed is waiting in the conference room,” Mason’s voice broke through the tensed air, and her green eyes caught fire.

Slowly, she raised her arms above her head stretching with her entire body, her back still turned to the grey-eyed man. His gaze followed her movements involuntarily, and he almost stumbled, as if he had no control over his own body. Her right hand moved lightly to brush the hair from the opposite side, baring her neck as the redhead glanced at him with a dark grin. _“Don't stare too desperately."_

Mason snapped back at her immediately, and the two of them stared at one another with the amount of disdain that was more appropriate for mortal enemies, not two people who failed to stay dressed once being left alone.

“I’m going to ask you to do something,” Adam said finally, turning his eyes back to the dark-haired man. “Promise me that you’ll draw a line for yourself. And whatever happens, you won’t cross it.”

“What are you-”

“No,” Adam stopped him. “Just promise you’ll set a maximum of what you can endure and when you reach it, you’ll stop.”

The grey eyes looked at the commanding agent blankly for the longest moment.

“Is that what you did with Eve? Drew a line?” he said finally, sending the rest of his cigarette flying, and Adam shuddered at the mention.

“Mason, I…”

“Save it, Adam,” the younger vampire shook his head, and his long strands of hair fell across the freckled cheekbone. “I don’t need your advice.”

He left Adam alone, with his words still ringing in the man's ears. _Is that what you did with Eve?_

***

Mason flopped onto the front seat of Katherine's car and looked around with disgust written all over his handsome face.

“Just being seen inside of this thing is humiliating,” he winced. 

“You can always walk,” the detective arched an eyebrow ever so slightly as the vampire glanced at the pouring rain, ran his fingers through his long, damp strands, and nuzzled deeper into the seat. “Just as I thought.”

She turned on the radio, something from Pop-100, and he crossed his arms on his chest, sulking and puffing on a cigarette. Driving through the weather, she looked more relaxed than he’s ever seen her before. Her body moved slightly to the beat, slow and viscous like syrup, her one hand resting on her thigh as the other moved gently over the steering wheel.

Mason put off the cigarette and frowned: this was the last one, and all his senses were heightened since she cornered him in one of the cupboards about half an hour ago and fucked him right there, pressing her hand against his mouth as he pounded her into the wall. And now, stuck with her in a moving car filled with the heavy scent of sex lingering on their skin, he needed something to take the edge off.

“There’s more over there,” the detective nodded at the glove compartment, and Mason glanced at her before reaching to grab another pack.

They never spoke again until the car stopped before the police station, and Katherine turned to the vampire with a sniggering smirk plastered to her lips as she reached to grab a huge umbrella from the backseat.

“Here you go, _sugar_ ,” she pushed the umbrella into Mason’s hands, grabbed her gun and badge, and climbed out of the car, not even bothering to take the keys out.

Deciding that no one would ever try to steal the tin can that her car was, the vampire pushed the door open and opened the umbrella, hoping that the rain will stop soon. She was already inside speaking with the officer on duty whose name Mason couldn’t care less to remember when he entered the building. She turned back, rolled her eyes, and said something else, after that, the young man’s face lit up, and he jumped to his feet eagerly, “Thank you, Detective!”

The kid ran past him so fast, Mason wondered lazily if maybe he was a vampire and followed Katherine to her office, shaking the water droplets off the umbrella. It was still better than getting all drenched in rain, even despite her mocking gaze.

“What was that?” he perched himself against the corner of her desk. “Since when you let your subordinates off the hook?”

The young woman tilted her head ever so slightly looking at him from beneath her long black lashes, and a shiver ran up Mason’s spine at the way her eyes sparkled in the dim light. She didn’t answer, just moved to search her desk for the files she needed, and he moved to the window, balancing himself on the old, rusty windowsill.

“Why are we here?” he asked after a long pause.

“Because I needed to check something,” she finally found the folder she was looking for and looked up. “And because it's still not safe for me to be alone."

The last words she said in a mawkish high-pitched tone of voice that sounded nothing like Rebecca but was definitely meant to mock Agent Reed’s order she repeated earlier that day when her daughter tried to reason that she didn't need constant company. Usually, it was Adam who escorted the detective to the police station (and not because he wanted to see Eve even from afar, absolutely not). But this time, he and Nate were sent to investigate a strange case at the local hospital, and Mason turned out to be the only option. Her _last_ choice, as she didn’t forget to remind him. And if he didn’t know she was lying, the vampire would’ve told her that unlike her, he didn’t have a choice at all and was just following her mom’s command. But that would’ve been a lie, too, so he just fell silent watching the streams of water run down the glass.

It was quiet and dark, and peaceful, and soon, Mason fell into trance, lulled by the sounds of pouring rain and the soft rustle of pages and accidental squeaks of Katherine’s chair.

Her scent suddenly became stronger, and the vampire turned around just in time to meet the stare of her darkened eyes as she came closer. She stopped using perfume weeks ago, just like she changed her usual shampoo to a fragrance-free one, but it only made it worse for Mason. Now, instead of the sickening scent of jasmine, he was going crazy from the intoxicating scent of her body that made him lose his head every time she got close. 

Her face was impossible to read when she pushed him harder against the windowsill, her knee slipping between his legs. Wordlessly, she moved her hands up his stomach, and her fingers hooked into the leather string on his neck, shortening it until it cut into the skin deeply. She pulled, and he lowered his head to meet her mouth in a deep, licentious kiss that left them both panting and gasping, and unable to stop.

Electricity coursed through the man’s body when her free hand pushed into his hair, pulling roughly, and he growled into her mouth when she pressed herself into his thigh. He could feel her heat through the fabric of his pants, and his already hard cock twitched asking for attention. She pressed him harder against the window, and the contrast between the cold glass and her burning touches took away any remnants of his self-control. With a low, feral groan, he grabbed both of her wrists roughly, unceremoniously, and brought her hands behind Katherine’s back, keeping them in place with the tight grasp of his long fingers. His other hand moved up her leg, pulling the skirt up, nails leaving red trails on the sensitive skin.

The rain outside turned into a storm. They could hear the distant sounds of thunder that were drowning in their hard breathing and moans and the rustle of their clothes. He needed to see her, right then, but couldn’t bring himself to use vampire speed to undress her, not willing to skip even a second of the time they had together. It was ridiculous, and he was close to hating himself for it, but every damn second of seeing her _like that_ was priceless, the only confirmation that there was something else than she felt for him except revulsion that read in her eyes most of the time. Sometimes, there was an annoyance or frustration – but sometimes, there was an inability to wait for a second longer, and those moments of her longing were burned into Mason’s memory seemingly forever.

Slowly, he unzipped her skirt, and the redhead stumbled backward, trying to wriggle out of it, her hands still in his grip. She looked at him from under her heavy lids and slowly spun on her heels until she was standing with her back to him, naked below the waist, her hips moving in semi-circles as she finally managed to slip out of the skirt. Still sitting on the windowsill, he pulled her in and released her wrists to slid his hands over her shoulders and tear her silk blouse open, little buttons flying everywhere as he pushed the fabric down her arms, wrapping it around her wrists and tightening into a knot.

Her skin was so hot, his palms were itching and burning. Mason moved her long curls aside, baring her neck and back, and her skin erupted into goosebumps that he could feel under his fingertips as they glided slowly down her spine. She moaned softly and arched her back, and Mason swallowed so hard his throat started to hurt.

“Spread your legs.”

She obeyed, and her high heels click against the floor.

_Has anyone ever seen her like that?_

When she acted that way, it did something to him. Adam was wrong when he assumed that there wasn’t a line for Mason. It existed, and he never crossed it, even when everything inside of him was ready to explode at yet another unmasked insult she gave him. The line that kept him from wrapping his hands around her delicate neck and squeezing it until she had no air left to breathe. She pushed him closer to that line every time and yet, he would never cross.

The line became blurry when she looked at him over her shoulder, and there was nothing in her eyes but desire to do whatever he tells her to. He hated her for it. Hated that she trusted him _that_ much. Hated that it broke him every fucking time. Hated that he seemed to be not able to stop. But most of all, he hated his inability to not care.

Besides his will, his hand ran upper her leg moving inwards until her heat burned his skin, and his fingers stumbled for a second.

“Turn around.”

The air around him moved as she did, the mane of her auburn hair flying up before splaying all over her shoulders, chest, and back. A soft groan escaped his lips as his eyes took her in, all of her, his gaze caressing the curves of her Plutonian-perfect body. She stood before him, relaxed and unfazed while there was a roaring fire burning inside the man’s chest.

“The time is now, kitten,” his voice got deeper as his lips curled upwards in a gloomy grin. He was sure: she remembered that night at the bar and their little exchange.

With her hands still tightened behind her back, she stepped closer, dropping to her knees with grace, as if it was a part of a beautiful dance. Her eyes turned a deeper shade of green as she looked up, and he sucked the air through his clenched teeth, forgetting that he didn’t need to breathe.

“Some help would be nice,” she noted in a raspy voice, her tongue flickering over her lips.

Behind him, a lightning bolt flashed across the sky, but neither of them noticed. Mason pushed himself off the windowsill, his hands moving slowly to unbuckle his belt and unhook the button on his pants.

He watched her as she shuffled closer and caught the zip fly with her teeth, pulling it down. His pants hung low on his hips, and she pulled them further down.

“You can either help or I’ll bite you,” she arched an eyebrow and nodded at his tight briefs.

“I’ll take my risk,” his voice almost faltered as she suddenly ran her hot wet tongue over his length through the fabric.

The storm outside deepened, flashes of lightning lit up the room every few seconds now. Her mouth traveled up to the waistband of his underwear, and her tongue slipped under the fabric tracing from one hipbone to the other. Everywhere she touched, his skin started to burn, the heat spreading through the vampire like a wildfire. His entire body was ablaze. Every fucking time she touched him, he lost his will. Every time she touched him, he felt something that kept him coming back for me. Her desperation. How terrified she was. Her hate was the strongest feeling someone ever had for him. It was the drug he couldn’t quit. Couldn’t quit her.

Her words stabbed him, leaving deep, ugly wounds – he stayed. She made him watch her fuck someone else – he stayed. Everything she did was to break him, make him feel like a thing – he stayed. She was right. He wasn’t a man.

His cock drowned inside the woman’s throat, and his hand flew to grasp on her hair, keeping her head in place as she fucked her face forcefully, her moans getting raspier and deeper, vibrating all over him, driving him insane. He was sick, but she wasn’t any better. The fire of her hair around his tanned hand and the fire in her eyes that were burned into his was just as filthy as the fire spreading through his body in shockwaves.

She enjoyed every grim, nasty thing they did to each other.

She tried to be with others. He saw every single one of them. She made sure she had. She tried so hard but every time, she came back to him. Because just with him, she felt _that_. The high she got addicted to ever since the first time they had each other. The high that was a dirty puddle of mud in the pit of hell, the lowest place of her life. Only in that hell, she found control she never had. Only with her throat hurting and her mascara running down her face with sweat, tears, her spit, and his come - she was alive. 

His cock still pulsing, he pushed her up to her feet, one hand reaching behind her back to free her wrists, the other slipping between her thighs, sleek with her need. Her need for _him_. For whatever this was that they were doing.

She pushed herself onto his fingers the second he touched her, and her hands grasped on his shoulders. Her eyes rolled back into her head, the first trembles coursing through her body. She was ready to explode, and he growled at this display of her desire. Getting him off was what got her off, only that, only he made her scream in the agony of pleasure. No one else.

Her head lolled back, and he grabbed a fistful of auburn hair, “Look at me.”

She snapped her eyes open, her pupils were blown so wide they took the entire space. She swallowed hard as her walls started clenching, the waves of pleasure so strong her knees buckled, and her body collapsed into Mason’s as he gripped her tighter. No one made her feel like that but him. And he knew it.

“I’m all you’ve got,” he hissed into her face before crashing their lips together, the taste of her sweat and his come sinking into his mouth as their tongues entwined, muffling out her cries as she came, her walls squeezing his fingers so hard as if trying to rip them out.

Their kiss slowed down as he guided her through her high, became softer, almost gentle. Her hands on his shoulders unclenched and now just rested there, the tips of her fingers barely moving, caressing him. It was a sensation he’d never felt before. Still shivering in aftershocks, she pulled away, and her eyes were filled with nothing but calmness. It shook the ground beneath his feet. No hate, no despise, no vicious glimmer.

She hated him, he had no doubt. She hated him because she felt for him. She hated him because she wasn’t ready to face her feelings. His own were driving him insane, but Mason knew what they were. He knew what made him take everything she threw his way, what made him crave the pain she induced. What made him beg for more. But also, it made him _almost_ dream of one time when the pain won’t be a part of being with her. Of the time she faces her fears. Of the time she stops hiding behind her hate.

Barely registering the movements of his hand, he ran his fingertips over her face, and she froze under the touch.

“What are you doing?” her voice broke.

“What normal people do after making love,” he answered quietly, his forefinger tracing the contours of her swollen lips.

Her body jerked away from the touch as if he hit her.

“Love?” Her face contorted in disgust and barely controlled horror. “ _This_ isn't love. _We_ will never make love. I will never make love to _you_.”

She grabbed her shirt from the floor and wiped off her face, her stare freezing the air in the room and the blood in Mason’s veins.

“You’re beneath me.”

***

The sounds of heavy pounding woke Adam up from his usual midnight reverie about him and someone who he kept pushing away as if his life depended on how much distance he puts between them. And maybe, he wasn’t that wrong. Mason’s drawn of color face stood before Adam’s eyes as a warning. _Don’t get too close, or you'll get burned._

He jerked himself into action, shaking the last grains of half-sleep off, and went towards the sounds. The clock stroke three in the night, the hour when the darkest secrets, deepest fears come out, floating around, suffocating, twisting the world into a distorted, dirty picture. Adam walked outside, following the noise that became louder with each step that he took towards the forest line. Full moon’s pale, cold light shone down on a silhouette of a man whose bleeding fists kept crashing against the trunk of an old tree as if trying to hack it away.

A short breath through clenched teeth – and Adam rushed towards the man, wrapping his arms forcefully around his torso and pulling him away from the tree, holding him tight as he tried to break free, barely sane.

Trying to escape Adam’s grasp, Mason jerked himself away from his friend, but the older vampire was stronger. With his stomach tightening into knots, he kept holding the dark-haired man, not letting him hurt himself _more_. Adam's blood was boiling with hate he didn’t know he was capable of. He hated the detective for ruining his friend. He hated Mason for willingly letting her do so. He hated them both for being so depraved and broken. Her brokenness was destroying Mason, and his brokenness was burning them both down since they’ve started this sick game of who’s going to come apart first.

“Let me go,” Mason growled, but the arms around him only squeezed his ribs harder.

"Damn it," Adam could barely control his desire to smash something himself. "I asked you not to cross the line. I asked you to..."

The other man laughed, and the sound of his voice turned Adam's blood into ice. He never heard a dead man laugh. Until now. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Your comments and kudos mean the world ♥️


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